Too Little, Too Late
by Crazy Magic Lover
Summary: Just when Hermione thought things were confusing already, Harry walked into her seventh year life and turned it upside down. Post HBP. Please Read and Rate! Final chapter up! Sorry the story's so short! Really I am!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Even though I really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters in this story.

Hermione sighed. Nothing seemed to be going her way today. She couldn't even master this new spell she had learned in an advanced magic textbook. Sitting on her bed in the girl's dormitory of Gryffindor House, Hermione sat alone in the silence, books and quills spread out around her on the bed. She dropped her head, then picked it up again and listened to the dead silence. Suddenly, the portrait-hole door slammed shut. Hermione jumped up and ran to the door, and, crashing through it, flew down the stairs to greet whoever had just entered the common room. She reached the bottom of the staircase, panting, and looked around. Slumped over in a chair and facing the other direction, a figure breathed softly, muttering something about a stupid redheaded brat.

"Man, I wish I had never gotten so close to her," the voice said, a little louder this time. "She was so clever, getting to me like that."

Hermione walked slowly and quietly to the chair, careful not to disturb any of the papers that had fallen to the ground as the portrait hole door had slammed. She had pretty much guessed who was in the chair and who they were talking about by now, so she took a shot in the dark at the name.

"Harry?"

The boy in the chair jumped. He turned around and looked to see who had called his name, expecting to see something dreadful. Instead, he saw a very concerned-looking Hermione. He sighed, then stood and walked over to her.

Hermione's eyes lit up when Harry smiled at her. All of a sudden, he pulled her into a tight hug, holding her body almost too close to his. Then he spoke, gently breathing the words.

"I shouldn't do this. I've learned my lesson with girls."

Hermione was confused. What did he mean, his lesson? She felt as if nothing made sense anymore. She began to ask questions, trying to hold off fear and confusion.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Hermione said slowly, trying to back out of Harry's embrace. Harry leaned down and touched his forehead to hers.

"Don't talk," he said bluntly, placing his lips gently on Hermione's. Hermione went rigid, then, almost as if she were enjoying it, she relaxed and sank deeper into Harry's arms. He pulled away for a moment, just to see Hermione's face. Her eyes were bright, filled with joy and longing, but her heart was pounding, and then she pulled away, turning her head from his gaze. She let a tear slip, then gently whispered something in Harry's ear as she walked to the stairs.

"Harry, I can't do this either."

Now it was Harry's turn to be confused. What was wrong? First Hermione was absorbed in his embrace, lost in his eyes, and the next minute she was running away. He dropped his head and sulked back to his chair, remembering that he couldn't follow Hermione to her dormitory. At that particular moment in time, a star shot across the sky. Looking up at the same time to see it, both Harry and Hermione made a wish. Their wishes happened to be the same wish.

Ginny walked in. Harry stood up, and then sat back down after finding that he had nothing to say to her. Ginny, however, had picked out some choice words for Harry.

"I can't believe that you would say something like that to me. You've always been so nice, and then suddenly, you act as if you don't love me anymore!" Ginny was hysterical. Harry dropped his head sighing the words, Here we go again.

Harry looked up into Ginny's eyes, then said four simple words.

"That' because I don't."

Ginny looked in shock at him, and as she cried, she fled to her room in the girl's dormitory. Harry sighed again, and as he shuffled to his feet, the portrait hole opened once more. This time, it produced Ron. Ron looked at Harry, heard Ginny's bawling, and looked away. Then he began his questions.

"Harry, why would you break up with my sister? You loved her, didn't you?"

"That's the point, Ron. I don't love her anymore."

Ron continued after a moment's pause.

"Alright, so who is on your mind?" Ron was getting angry, because he thought for sure that Harry would always love Ginny no matter what.

Harry sighed and looked around, dodging Ron's gaze.

"Er, Ron, I'd really rather not say," he said finally. Ron looked over his shoulder to see Hermione standing at the doorway.

"I'll bet you five sickles that she knows," Ron retorted, pointing over Harry's shoulder. Hermione smiled at Harry as he turned to look.

"Come on, Ron! You don't need to know everything!" he shouted at Ron.

Hermione coughed. "I guess I need to, though, Harry. You need to explain some things to me."

Harry looked away from her, and looked back at Ron, who was fuming. Ron stood, and without a word, stormed back out of the portrait hole. Harry looked scared now, almost as if he didn't want to tell Hermione why he had pulled her into a liplock.

Not that she had minded. It was nice, having a strong relationship with a guy. She just never thought that Harry would ever turn to her for love.

"Harry? Answer me something, okay?" she spoke gently, as if she didn't want to hurt him with her words.

Harry looked up, and looked right into her eyes. Then he dropped his head. He shook his head, then walked to the boy's dormitory staircase.

"Not now, alright? I will answer your question, whatever it is, a little later." With that, he disappeared up the stairs, leaving Hermione confused, and curious about his feelings, and her own.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters in this story.

Hermione, once again on her bed, was thinking about what had happened a couple of hours earlier. Questions formed and flung themselves around her head, confusing her even more. Two questions came to mind: Why would Harry do this? and Why did I let him?

A knock came from the door.

"Hello?" Hermione called out, surprised. She hadn't expected anyone to enter. "Come in,"

Ginny walked in, and sat down on Hermione's bed.

"Hullo."

The two sat still for a moment, and Ginny's single word hung in the air like a wisp of the foggy air outside.

"Okay, what's up between you and Harry?" Hermione asked Ginny, breaking the silence.

Ginny thought about what to say, and decided not to tell Hermione the truth.

"I broke up with him. I thought that he might not be thinking about me all the time and I felt like I couldn't trust him," she thought for a moment, then told some of the truth. "We had a fight. We argued over something, and, well, I guess I hurt his feelings with some of the things I said. I came to you for guidance, since you're his best friend. I know I can trust you," Ginny finally finished.

Hermione sat in the silence, wondering why Ginny had come to her instead of going to Ron. Hermione smiled. "I'm glad you feel that you can trust me," she started, but got cut off mid-sentence by Ginny, who popped up gleefully and hugged Hermione.

"You're the best!" she exclaimed, and rushed out the door, leaving Hermione alone. She muttered something about wanting to be able to finish a sentence someday.

Harry was sulking on his bed, beginning to wonder why he did the things he did earlier, what with kissing Hermione all of a sudden. He banged his head against the bedpost.

"Why? Why did you do that, Harry?" he asked himself, pausing for a moment to rub his now-aching head. "You don't just randomly kiss a girl," he continued. "Not even if you like her enough to."

There was a sudden tapping at the window. It sounded almost urgent. Harry turned to see Hedwig attempting to get inside. He opened the latch to let her in, and in doing so, noticed a small note tied to Hedwig's ankle. Harry undid the thread and opened the little letter.

It turns out that it wasn't such a little letter after all; in fact, it was a rather large piece if parchment folded up very small. Harry saw the messy scrawl on the note and guessed that it was from Hagrid. He read it aloud, because he really had nothing better to do.

The note read as follows:

Harry:

Get yourself over here to my hut as fast as you possibly can. I need to tell you something very important before the end of the day, and, whatever you do, don't let ANYONE follow you.

Scribbled illegibly at the bottom of the parchment was what Harry assumed to be Hagrid's signature. He stood up and quietly went to the door. He paused, only for a moment, to shake the thought of telling Hermione that he was going to see Hagrid, if she wanted to come with him. Harry shook his head and went carefully out the door and through the portrait hole.

As he walked across the misty grounds towards Hargrid's hut, he though about what he might be told, and how it would affect what he might do later.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters in this story.

It had been about ten minutes now since Ginny had left the room. Hermione sat in the thick silence while the same two questions she had thought of earlier bombarded the inside of her skull. She closed her eyes and moaned, unable to find an answer to either question.

"Maybe I should see if Harry will talk to me now," Hermione said out loud to no one in particular.

A portrait on somebody's bedside answered her. "That's a good idea, dearie."

She smiled at the picture, stood and strode quickly out of the dormitory to find Harry.

Harry knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut. Barking came from within, and the door opened slightly.

"Have yeh been followed?" a voice called out, and Hagrid's head appeared to search for others besides Harry.

Harry looked around, just to make sure he was alone. "No."

"Good. Come 'ere."

Hagrid opened the door enough so that Harry could get in, but Fang couldn't get out.

There was a fire crackling merrily in the hearth, but Hagrid did not seem to share moods with the flames. He looked at Harry, who stared back at his huge face, with a look of confusion on his own.

"Er, so Hagrid, why did you call me out here?" Harry asked to break the silence.

"Oh, eh, right. Look, Harry, yeh got to watch yer back, because no one else is goin' to watch it for you. The Dark Lord is back, and Snape is after yeh, I'll wager. Just be careful, okay?" Hagrid concluded, looking around nervously.

"Okay, why couldn't you just tell me that in an owl?"

"I didn't want to take the chance that someone would find out that I was alerting yeh to danger."

"Oh. Okay. Oh, hey Hagrid?" Harry suddenly had a question.

"Yeh?"

Harry suddenly thought having a question was a very bad idea. "Er," he started, then changed his mind on what to say. "How can I make sure that Volde – I mean the Dark Lord – doesn't find any of my friends to use as bait for a trap?" Harry waited anxiously to see what Hagrid had made of the question.

"I don't know, Harry. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. I'll just go and ask Hermione."

Harry stood up and slipped back out the large door and headed off for the castle. Once away from the hut, he breathed a sigh of relief, wondering how the conversation might have gone differently if he had let slip anything of how he felt for Hermione, or what he had done earlier.

"Harry?" Hermione called out across the empty common room. She knew he had to be around somewhere, so she just started in the most likely place. "Harry?"

The portrait hole swung open. Harry emerged, looking somewhat discouraged, almost as if he needed help with something important.

"Oh, there you are, Harry! I've been looking all over for you. Listen, I wanted to ask you," Hermione started, but Harry cut her off.

"Questions. Yeah, I know. I'd would answer the one that I think you're going to ask, except I don't know if I can."

"What do you mean?" Hermione said, sounding rather puzzled.

"You want to know about earlier. Why I did what I did. To tell you the truth, Hermione, I don't know why I do some things."

"Harry, please, I'm just so, so," Hermione lost words as she thought of ways to put how she felt.

"Lost," Harry said knowingly, and put his arm around Hermione. She turned away.

"Harry, until you answer me why you, uh, why you kissed me earlier, I'm not going to let you get near me. I'm sorry, I just don't know what to think."

_Or what to feel,_ she thought to herself.

Harry backed away, dropping his head. "I understand." He turned away and started for the stairs to the boys dormitory.

Hermione thought about saying one simple thing to him before he left, but she figured that that would just make things worse.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters in this story.

Harry sat dejectedly on his bed. The only thought that was running through his mind was stuck there, and he couldn't make it leave. He said it aloud, in hopes of making the painful words go away.

"Now she'll never even like me."

There was a knock on the door. Harry looked up, but ignored it, leaving whoever it was that was on the other side of the door still knocking. He rolled over, burying his head in his pillow. Whoever was on the other side of the door got angry and tired of knocking, so the person revealed herself to be Hermione by barging in. She saw Harry face down on his bed and turned her head, thinking, _What have I done? Now he doesn't want to talk to me anymore._

She sat down on the end of his bed. The movement surprised Harry, and thus, he jumped and rolled over. Hermione looked him over carefully, then spoke.

"Harry, I wanted to say something earlier. I guess I just hadn't come to terms with some things yet,"

"It's okay. I understand. It's just, I mean," Harry stuttered. He thought to himself that this was a really bad idea. He continued after a moment's pause.

"I think I'm in love, Hermione."

Hermione's thoughts exploded into a thousand questions. Love? With who? Do I know them? One question stood out among the rest. Why are you telling me this?

That was the particular question that escaped her lips after she comprehended what Harry had said.

Harry shook his head. "You don't understand, do you, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head as one last thought formed in her mind.

_Me._

Her eyes widened in understanding, and she shook her head in disbelief. "Harry, that's not funny," she said, trying to pretend that Harry wasn't really in love with her.

"I'm not joking. Hermione, I've told you why I snogged you earlier, now tell me why you don't believe me. Please," he added gently.

Hermione sat in shocked silence. Harry loved her? But why? There was Ginny, who he had previously been seeing, but not anymore, apparently. And there was Cho, but that relationship hadn't really worked out. But why would Harry choose her, she thought wildly. Harry sighed, jolting her back to reality.

"Harry, you can't really be serious," Hermione said, desperately hoping that he really was serious, and that this wasn't just a prank from Ron. One thing that she realized she hadn't come to terms with was her own feelings.

"Hermione, stop doing this. I love you," he said, sitting up and looking Hermione straight in the eye. "Must I say it again? I will say it a thousand times if I have to."

Hermione shifted her eyes away from Harry's gaze before she spoke. She tried to keep her voice as emotionless as possible, with no success.

"Harry. I can't do this. I was going to tell you something when I came in here, but," Hermione began to cry, letting tears run down her face. She tried desperately to stop them, but they flowed on endlessly, showing far too much emotion for an attempted-to-be-emotionless comment. Harry nodded, and pulled Hermione in close to him. She pushed him away.

"Harry, I can't do this! I –" She was cut off suddenly because her lips had something better to be doing.

Harry pulled back for a second.

"Hermione, I love you."

With that, he leaned down and kissed her again.

"Harry, stop," Hermione started, but she couldn't finish. Harry wouldn't let go of her long enough to finish a sentence.

"Hermione, you're not trying hard enough to break away. Just say what's on your mind. I'll let you go, I promise. See?" Harry let go of her reluctantly, and gave Hermione a chance to speak.

"Harry, I'd say it, but I'm just not sure of what I feel right now. I'm sorry." She turned her head and shed a tear. Harry kissed her cheek and let her go.

She moved to leave, but then turned back to Harry for a moment, whispering the words, "I'm sorry" once more. Harry laid back down and told himself that he was crazy for saying what he had, and wished that Hermione could think of a response to his love.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I, unfortunately, do not own any of the Harry Potter characters; I only own the plot.

Hermione rushed out of Harry's room. Her eyes filled with tears. She still felt like she was in shock. Did Harry really just say that he loved her? What did she feel?

Ginny saw Hermione come down the boys dormitory staircase and run up to the girls dormitory. The young redhead sighed as she put down her enormous Potions essay to follow the seventh year to her room.

"The things I do for my friends," she said, making her way up the stone stairs.

Hermione was on her bed crying her heart out when Ginny walked in. The redhead seemed to be contemplating what to say, so Hermione turned over to see why she was so silent.

"Hermione? What happened? You came running from Harry's room, and ran straight up here. What's going on?" Ginny seemed to be genuinely concerned.

"Gin, can I not tell you now? I need to mull over what got said up there," Hermione said the last part slowly, thinking. She made a strange face as she contemplated Harry's words, then began to cry again.

"Has that git told you to go die?" Ginny asked playfully.

"No, quite the opposite."

Ginny stared at Hermione blankly for a moment. "What do you mean, 'Mione?"

"I mean, he said he loved me."

Ginny burst out laughing. Hermione glared, which appeared to have the desired effect: instant silence. "He really said that…that he loved you?"

"Not only that, he bloody kissed me again!"

The flame-haired youth sat in thought for a moment. "He's a good kisser, isn't he?" she finally asked.

"Ginny!"

"What? Sorry," she said, hoping Hermione wouldn't be too upset. Hermione relaxed after Ginny apologized for bringing up the subject of good or bad kissing.

"Gin, how would I know," Hermione started. "How would I know if he was a good kisser? He's the only guy I've ever kissed!" Ginny laughed gently.

"You know I was only joking?"

"Yeah, I know."

A moment of silence passed. The air seemed heavy with it, and Hermione suddenly felt as if she were suffocating. Sighing, she sat up.

"So, are you going to answer him?" Ginny posed the question.

"Huh?" Hermione said as if coming out of a trance. She had been lost in thought, and Ginny's words made her snap harshly back to reality.

"Are you going to tell him you love him?"

Hermione bit her lip. If she did that, Harry might kiss her again. She wasn't all that fond of kissing…especially if she wasn't sure of how she felt about the guy.

"I…I don't know."

"Do you love him?"

That one was unexpected, and made her think. Did she really love him? Was it hormones? Was it lust? She definitely felt something, but she didn't know if it really was love.

"Gin, I'm not sure. I feel something, I care, but I can't say for sure if I'm in love."

Ginny nodded. "I understand."

Ginny stood up and walked for the door. "If there's ever anything you want to say to me, just talk, okay?"

Hermione bobbed her head in agreement to Ginny's statement.

"Okay, then. I have a 4-foot long Potions essay due tomorrow, so I'm going to go work on that."

"Okay."

* * *

Harry came out of the boys dormitories, looking rather confused. Ginny wandered down the opposite staircase seconds later. Harry jumped in surprise, then ran over to his old girlfriend. Ginny turned around and ignored Harry as he approached her.

"Alright, what did I do to Hermione this time?"

"You confused the hell out of her! You wanted to see her? Well I'm quite sure she doesn't wan to hear what you have to say right now." Ginny was ranting at Harry, trying to make him feel sorry for what he had done to Hermione.

"Too bad. I wanted to tell her something." Harry said, his voice full of sorrow. Almost as if on cue, the Gryffindor appeared at the top of the stairs, looking like she had been crying.

"What did you want to say, Harry? If you want to say 'I love you' again to make it all better, tell me now. I'll just go back upstairs."

"Actually," Harry shuffled his feet. "I felt bad for confusing you, so I wanted to say I was sorry."

Hermione grinned, bolting down the stairs and bounding into Harry's arms. He stumbled as she jumped into him, but quickly regained his balance and hugged his love.

Hermione looked up, staring into the emerald orbs that were Harry Potter's eyes. Harry closed his eyes hurriedly, so he wouldn't be tempted to kiss her again.

All of a sudden, he felt something on his lips, and it wasn't something he expected. His eyes flickered open to see Hermione kissing him, her caramel eyes now locked into his again. Her eyelids slipped closed again, and Harry smiled into her, kissing her back. Ginny groaned.

"Get a room, you two!"

Ron walked in, and promptly fainted. He came to a few minutes later, only to see his two best friends still eating each other's faces off. He shouted at them.

"Get. A. Room. NOW!" Ron didn't seem too used to the snog-fests happening around him.

"That's what I said!" Ginny said, sounding rather annoyed as she squeaked past the couple, heading for her room. Ron walked over and shoved Harry in the shoulder. He didn't respond. Giving up after a few more tries, he decided to leave them to their snogging. He opened the door and Luna skipped in, even though she was in Ravenclaw. She walked over to Ron and kissed him.

Ron jumped. Why did Luna have to kiss him in front of the snogging lovebirds over there? _I mean, she _is _my girlfriend, but why _NOW

Luna grinned when she saw the famous wizard kissing the know-it-all of his dreams.

"Luna, do something to stop them!"

Luna smiled, and turned on a radio.

"My work here is done," she said dreamily as she pulled Ron into a tight hug. She planted her lips on his, but Harry and Hermione didn't seem to notice. Ron was thankful for that.

"Hey Luna?" Ron panted, breaking away from the kiss. "Where'd you get the Muggle radio?"

Luna looked surprised. "My father, of course!" She pulled him out of the room, and the two ran off to find a broom closet or empty classroom.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening today, and we have just one more song for you!" The radio announced this loudly. Hermione and Harry broke away panting to listen to the new song. A few notes drifted into the room.

This time, This place, 

**Misused, Mistakes,**

**Too long, Too late,**

**Who was I to make you wait?**

Hermione sighed. "I love this song," she said as Harry pulled her back into the kiss.

**I love you,**

**I have loved you all along**

The couple kissed most of the song away.

**I wanted**

**I wanted you to stay**

'**Cause I needed**

**I need to hear you say**

Harry broke away. "Hermione, you never said one thing to me," he said slyly.

"Oh really? What would that be?"

"I love you."

Hermione went rigid, but then feeling Harry's touch, she repeated the words.

"I love you," she said slowly, savoring the words. Harry smiled and kissed her again and again.

**I love you**

**And I have loved you all along**

"I love you, Harry Potter." Hermione said these words bravely like a true Gryffindor would. She showed no fear in her love anymore, and she was quite happy to just say the words to him.

"I love you too, Hermione Granger."

_ fin_


End file.
